Samantha Tonge’s Publication Journey
Samantha Tonge’s Publication Journey
Welcome to Samantha Tonge’s Publication Journey, another in the occasional series of guest posts by authors who reveal their journey to getting published. Samantha’s story is one of determination and ultimate triumph in the face of adversity.
Over to Samantha:
It sounds cheesy, but I always knew one day I would write. I read voraciously as a child and even started a novel in my 20s. But it wasn’t until my youngest began school, in my late thirties, that I seriously chased my dream. I joined an online writing community WriteWords, made friends and learnt so much. As the novel rejections came in, I started writing short stories for magazines, to reassure me I could write and earn money. I sold many to The People’s Friend.
It took me writing 5 novels and 8 years to get my first agent and I collected almost 100 rejections! In 2013 my debut, Doubting Abbey, was published. How exciting it was when a film producer wanted to look at it. I’ve now had 23 books published. I’ve had 2 agents and 4 publishers. Two books were top ten Amazon UK bestsellers, I’ve won two awards and one of my books was due to appear on screen, in a British drama series. (It didn’t make the final cut but still a thrill!)
It’s been an up and down journey on a personal level. Being an author can be stressful, with the highs and lows of sales, with being ranked against other authors, with meeting deadlines, with having to put yourself out there with photos, videos, appearances. It brought out old eating disorder issues and this fed into a drink problem that had been hovering in the background. In 2016 I ended up in treatment and am now almost 10 years sober. Also I’ve finally been diagnosed with the OCD that has affected my life since childhood. I’m especially proud of my career, given the odds stacked against me, and couldn’t have done it without the support of family, friends, and readers.
My first books were romantic comedies. After getting sober I just couldn’t write anything laugh-out-loud funny so my writing briefly took a darker turn. Now my stories have settled into the women’s fiction genre of uplifting but emotional reads, with aspects of humour and romance. I’m so happy with the feedback I get, and how issue-driven fiction resonates with readers.
My latest release, The Time of My Life, was inspired by a true story I read of someone who put their whole life up for sale, and I imagined who would be desperate enough to do that, or buy it?!
If there’s one thing I can pass on from my publication journey, it’s not to give up, believe in yourself. And whatever you dream of doing in life, don’t assume, just because you’ve got challenges, that achieving success is for other people. If I can do it SO CAN YOU.
About Samantha
Samantha Tonge lives in Manchester UK. She studied German and French at university and has worked abroad, including a stint at Disneyland Paris. She has travelled widely.
Samantha has sold many dozens of short stories to women’s magazines. She is represented by Darley Anderson Agency & Associates. In 2015 her summer novel, Game of Scones, hit #5 in the UK Kindle chart and won the Love Stories Awards Best Romantic Ebook category. In 2020 one of her novels won the RNA's Jackie Collins Romantic Thriller Award. Currently Samantha writes uplifting, emotional women's fiction for Boldwood Books. She seeks to raise a smile, and make a reader feel they are not alone with the challenges of life.
Social Media
Instagram: samanthatongeauthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamanthaTongeAuthor
X: https://x.com/SamTongeWriter
More Publication Journeys
I hope you enjoyed Samantha Tonge’s Publication Journey. Here are links to other authors who share their Publication Journey stories on this blog:
AJ Aberford and Anthony Aberford
Linda Huber and Linda’s Journey Continued